REGION — Livestock producers are hoping for a change in the weather pattern after weeks of rain.
A field is seen underwater following the May 1 flooding in Franklin County. This field is managed by Randall Bates of New Vineyard. More rain since has slowed hay harvests and caused other setbacks for area livestock farmers. Randall Bates
“I don’t remember anything like this,” dairy farmer Randall Bates of New Vineyard said Tuesday, July 11. “It was bad in 2009, but nothing like this. It has been challenging this year.”
Maine was hit with a heavy rainstorm April 30 to May 1 causing significant flooding. Sand deposits and other debris left in fields, eroded roads, uprooted fences, land washed away and loss of work already done this spring were some of the aftermaths for Franklin County farmers.
From that rainstorm through Tuesday, Bates measured 25″ accumulation in his rain gauges. “It didn’t rain for three weeks after that May storm,” he noted. “Once the faucet turned on, it didn’t stop.”
Bates has 45 acres of hay still standing, a little less than half of his fields. He is now doing baleage exclusively which doesn’t need as much drying time as traditional baling. The grass is also wrapped in plastic which prevents outside oxygen and moisture from penetrating and reducing its nutritional value.
“Even if the weather is good for a few days, everything is so wet you can’t get on the land,” Bates said. “By June 20 to 23 I am usually done first crop. The quality of what still needs to be harvested is horrible.”
Bates has 23 acres that were harvested early and second crop is now ready. “I can’t get on it,” he said. “I need sunshine. I normally take a third crop off everything, that is rapidly coming to zero this year.”
Pastures are usually clipped by this time to encourage further growth and remove older, less nutritious stands, but that hasn’t been possible, Bates noted.
Clean up after the May 1 flood took time away from the hay harvest.
Bates also grows pumpkins and squash, which are behind in growth due to the lack of sun. “It’s not too late for them, it’s not desperate yet,” he said. “We don’t spray for weeds, have only been able to partially weed them as we can’t get on the fields.”
Extended forecasts show no change in the weather, Bates noted.
He added, “My father in law, Harold Hardy used to say, “A wet year will scare you to death, a dry year will starve you to death.””
Son Henry Hardy now farms Harold Hardy’s property in Farmington. He started his hay crop early, was able to get quite a bunch done, he noted Tuesday. “I have 20 acres or so still to do,” he stated. “I have second crop ready, but am running out of places to go. The ground is so wet that even when we get a couple of good days you can’t get on it.”
Hardy is also doing baleage, has done some dry hay. “Dry hay is good for the cows’ stomach,” he said. “The second crop looks great right now, is heavier than the first crop because of all the rain. It’s getting mature, nutritional value will soon start decreasing if we can’t get it cut.”
Hardy expects to have enough feed for his herd, but has more than 1,000 bales on order to sell to other farmers. “I am not sure when or where it is coming from,” he noted.
Hardy has never seen a wet summer like this. “We have had some wet years, but it usually breaks after a while,” he added.
Leslie Smith in East Dixfield raises beef. “You can’t do much when it rains every day,” he said. “The fields are wet. If we can get to it soon, the crop is going to be good. If we can’t get onto it pretty soon, the hay quality will decrease. What we have been able to get so far has been pretty good.”
Second crop is up and looking good on fields Smith was able to harvest. “We just can’t get onto the fields,” he noted.
James Davis, his brother and their families operate a dairy farm in New Sharon. It has not been a good year, he said Tuesday.
“We chopped quite a bit of first crop, got some first crop harvested when we had a few dry days,” he noted. After the May 1 flood, the grass wasn’t growing well. We decided to chop it and hopefully get a better second crop. We made some baleage too.
“Haven’t done any second crop, still waiting on dry weather. The fields are wet, soggy. If we can’t get that soon, the third crop will be impacted.”
Melissa and Ben Lower operate Depot Street Meats on Route 156 near Route 133 in Jay. On Tuesday she said they do not cut hay, purchase feed from other farmers locally.
Melissa said they are dealing with a lot of washouts from the June 29 storm and flood. “We received all the water from that area, it forced the culverts out,” she noted. “We lost some pasture, it is sand now instead. It is interesting how the water carved out the land.”
Lower said the animals were in the back pastures when the flood hit, some fencing in the front pastures was affected.
She noted no red flags have been raised on hay availability yet. “It needs to dry out so they can harvest,” she added.
Mark Turner and his family operate a dairy and beef operation on Soules Hill Road in Jay.
Tuesday he said things were very slow going, only about two-thirds of his first crop had been harvested. “I am way behind,” he stated. “Usually I have the first crop done before the 4th of July, I am hoping to get it done by Aug. 4. It’s very wet, I have to pick and choose where to cut or the fields can get rutted up.”
Turner has started wrapping hay in the field. The quality now is poor, he noted.
Turner usually does a third cutting on many fields. He may not be able to do that this year or it will be really late if it is possible.
To further complicate the situation, Turner is also dealing with the aftermaths of the June 29 flood. “I have to go 14 miles around to get to Wilton,” he said. “With all the construction, they won’t let us through.”
Wednesday morning Turner said the milk truck, which comes every other day to transport the milk to the processing plant didn’t miss a pick up. “We had to reroute how the driver gets here,” he noted. “He now comes down through Mt. Vernon and Chesterville, uses the Burough Road. It takes longer, puts his schedule off. They are working on that road too.
“I just got to my field in Farmington. I had to stop three times for construction.”
On Sunday, July 9, Russell Black of Wilton said the hay situation is similar there.
Seth Webber in New Vineyard hasn’t cut any hay yet, Black noted.
Black’s family has been able to cut some hay, some fields had some rutting occur when the tire tractors sank into the waterlogged soil. The timothy right now is okay but orchard grass has gotten long stems now, is of poorer nutritional quality, he said.
“It is pretty bad,” Black noted. The Halls in East Dixfield just recently started haying their fields in Jay, a lot of it washed away, he added.
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